Govt clears Aboitiz Power’s $1.2-B stake buy in GNPower

ABOITIZ Power Corporation’s (AboitizPower) to acquire indirect partnership interests in GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. (GMCP) and GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD) for an estimated $1.2 billion has been cleared by government regulators, the company said on Tuesday.

AboitizPower said that the bid by its wholly owned subsidiary Therma Power, Inc. (TPI) to acquire indirect interests in GMCP and GNPD was approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) last November 21 and December 19, respectively.

Under this cleared bid, TPI will hold indirect effective interests held by affiliated investment funds of The Blackstone Group L.P in World Power Holdings, L.P. and Sithe Global Power, L.P.

As a result, TPI will own a 66.1 percent effective beneficial ownership interest in GMCP and 40 percent effective beneficial ownership interest in GNPD, AboitizPower said.

The proposed acquisition consideration is priced approximately at $1.2 billion and will be funded by a combination of internally generated cash and financing from foreign banks, it said.

GMCP is a 604-megawatt (MW) subcritical thermal power plant which started operations in 2014 while GNPD is a 2 x 668-MW supercritical thermal power plant. Both are located in Bataan. The first of the GNPD units is currently under construction and is targeting commercial operation in 2019.

“We welcome the government’s latest move to clear our planned acquisition of stakes in the GNPower thermal power plants, as we consider this an essential strategy in our commitment to securing a balanced energy mix to support the country’s energy security,” Antonio R. Moraza, AboitizPower president and COO, said on Tuesday.

“This is also in line with our target to increase our attributable net sellable capacity to 4,000 MW by 2020. We consider this acquisition very strategic as it gives us immediate earnings from the operating asset and incremental capacity in the coming years from the plant under construction and its expansion,” he added.

At present, AboitizPower has investments in various thermal and renewable power generating facilities and maintains a balanced mix of energy sources to provide ample and reliable power at competitive rates.